Launch of HMS ‘Royal Albert’, Woolwich Royal Dockyard, Kent
Launch of HMS ‘Royal Albert’, Woolwich Royal Dockyard, Kent, 1854. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were among those attending the ceremony. The ‘Royal Albert’ was a 121 gun three decker warship. Originally designed as a sailing vessel she was converted to screw propulsion during construction. Woolwich Dockyard was founded by Henry VIII in 1512 to build his flagship ‘Henri Grace a Dieu’ (the ‘Great Harry’), the largest warship of its time.